28 THE PAPION. 



more than five feet when standing upright, a stature which equals, if 

 not exceeds, that of the Chacma. 



In its native land the usual food of the Mandrill is of a vegetable 

 nature, although, in common with the rest of the Baboons, it displays 

 a great liking for ants, centipedes, and similar creatures. 



The tail of this animal is a remarkable feature, if it may be so termed, 

 in the general aspect of the baboon. It is short, set high on the back, 

 and curved upward in a manner that is most singular, not to say ludi- 

 crous, in the living animals, and conspicuously noticeable in the skeleton. 



It is a very common animal in its own country, but, on account of its 

 great strength, cunning, and ferocity, it is not so often captured as might 

 be expected. Even when a specimen is made prisoner, it is generally a 

 very young one, which soon loses in captivity the individuality of its 

 being, and learns to accommodate itself to the altered circumstances 

 among which it is placed. 



Another well-known species of the Dog-headed Baboons is the 

 Papion, an animal of rather more refined aspect than the Chacma, 

 or, more properly speaking, not quite so brutal. 



The face, although unattractive enough, is yet not so repulsive as that 

 of the Chacma, and the colors are rather more bright than those of that 

 animal. 



Great reverence was paid to these creatures, and specially to certain 

 selected individuals, which were furnished with a safe home in or near 

 the temples, liberally fed while living, and honorably embalmed when 

 dead. Many mummied forms of these baboons have been found in the 

 temple-caves of Egypt, swathed, and spiced, and adorned, just as if they 

 had been human beings. 



Some authors say that the Thoth Baboon was an object of worship 

 among the Egyptians, but hardly with sufficient reason. Various ani- 

 mal forms were used as visible living emblems of the attributes of deity 

 and the qualities of the human intellect, but were no more objects of 

 idolatrous worship than the lion of England or the eagle of America. 



The fur of the Papion is of a chestnut color, in some parts fading 

 into a sober fawn, and in others warmed with a wash of ruddy bay. 

 The paws are darker than the rest of the body. When young it is of 

 a lighter hue, and deepens in color until it reaches its full age. In the 

 prime of existence its colors are the lightest, but as years begin to lay 

 their burden on the animal, the hairs begin to be flecked with a slight 

 grizzle, and, in process of time, the snows of age descend liberally, and 

 whiten the whole fur with hoary hairs. 



AMERICAN MONKEYS. 



We have now taken a rapid survey of the varied forms which the 

 Quadrumaua of the Old World assume — forms so diversified that there 



